“The Study of Kennings in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf”

Autora: Lucía Bestilleiro Álvarez

Trabajo Fin de Grado UDC/2015-2016

Facultad de Filología

Grado en Inglés: Estudios Lingüísticos y Literarios

Directora: Isabel Moskowich-Spiegel Fandiño

TableofContentsAbstract ......................................................................................................................................... 4 

1  Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 5 

2  The Origins of Beowulf .......................................................................................................... 7 

3  Beowulf in the Anglo‐Saxon Literary Tradition ................................................................... 12 

4  What is a Kenning? .............................................................................................................. 18 

5  Analysis: Kennings as Image‐metaphors in Beowulf ........................................................... 22 

5.1  Positive kennings ......................................................................................................... 23 

5.1.1  Kennings for “King” ............................................................................................. 24 

5.1.2  Kennings for “God” .............................................................................................. 27 

5.1.3  Kennings for “Sun” .............................................................................................. 28 

5.1.4  Kennings for “Sea”............................................................................................... 28 

5.1.5  Kennings for “Ship” ............................................................................................ 29 

5.1.6  Kennings for “Armour” ........................................................................................ 30 

5.1.7  Kennings for “Warrior” ........................................................................................ 31 

5.1.8  Kennings for “Body and Breast” .......................................................................... 33 

5.2  Negative kennings ....................................................................................................... 34 

5.2.1  Kennings for “Battle” .......................................................................................... 34 

5.2.2  Kennings for “Sword” .......................................................................................... 35 

5.2.3  Kennings for “Dragon” ........................................................................................ 36 

6  Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 38 

References ................................................................................................................................... 40 

Appendices .................................................................................................................................. 43 

Appendix A: Positive kennings ............................................................................................ 43 

Appendix B: Negative kennings ........................................................................................... 45 

 

Abstract

Beowulf is an anonymous poem written in the Anglo-Saxon period (449-1066 AD),

considered nowadays an English literary masterpiece and the most relevant epic poem

in existence. It springs from Germanic oral tradition and it includes aspects of the epic.

Epic poetry traditionally deals with the adventures of a hero who fights to defend his

culture. Some of the formal elements characteristic of this genre are alliteration, the

repetition of the same sound at the beginning of nearby words, and kennings, a device

typical of Germanic poetry that are, therefore, also present in Anglo-Saxon Literature.

The following work is a brief study of the meaning of kennings in the Anglo-Saxon epic

poem Beowulf, a good representative of Old English tradition. The study will focus on a

semantic classification and analysis of kennings according to their positive or negative

meaning and their contribution to the overall effect of the poem.

1 Introduction

In the long history of writing and even previous to it, poetry has had a special

importance for human development. It is one of the genres, together with fiction, that I

have studied in these four years of University training. There are different sub-genres

within poetry, and Germanic poetry is not an exception. The Germanic epic poetry sings

the great feats of a particular, character, known as hero, who is characterised by his

courage and force, which guide his actions attending to honour-related criteria. Among

the distinguished works of this tradition, I have chosen Beowulf as the basis for this

essay. Mine will not be a complete analysis of the poem Beowulf itself, but rather what I

intend with this work is to carry out a study on how the author of the text used kennings

in order to give shape to the whole poem. The materials used in order to reach my

objective are the book of Beowulf A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney which

includes the text in English and Old English, A Concise Anglo-Saxon dictionary by Hall

Clark in order to find the meaning of kennings and other sources which contain plenty

of information relating to Beowulf and the Old English period.

I have divided this essay in six main sections. After this introductory section,

section 2 deals with the Anglo-Saxons who settled Britain and were at the same time

pioneers of this extensive literature. In the third section, I will place the Beowulf poem

within its literary and cultural tradition, including its origin, plot summary and

information about the manuscript. In the forth section, I will provide a brief explanation

of the term kenning, as a characteristic feature of the Germanic and Old English poetry.

In addition, I will also show the controversy the term provokes as it was object of study

by some scholars. The central objective of my essay is to present which of the kennings

used in the poem have a positive meaning and which of them have a negative one, and

this is what I do in section five. Finally, the sixth section shows the corresponding

conclusions which summarise the main aspects of this essay.

2 TheOriginsofBeowulf

The origin of Old English (OE henceforth), the language spoken in Anglo-Saxon

England (Robinson, 1998: 142), goes back to the fifth century when some Germanic

tribes invaded Britain and the Romans staying there withdrew. In turn, the end of the

Old English period is marked by the Norman Conquest in 1066. From a linguistic point

of view, the OE period is normally defined as the period from 600 to 1100 (Hadke,

2012) although periodisation is still subject to discussion.

Other languages existed in the British Isles as a substratum before OE such as

Pictish, Goidelic or Brythonic (Matasovic, 2012: 153). The first Indo-European

speakers to arrive to the territory we now call Great Britain were probably the Celts. We

do not know exactly the date of their arrival, but they were already on the British Isles

several centuries before the birth of Christ. Later on, beginning in 55 BC the Roman

Emperor Julius Caesar made several attempts to invade Britain, but it was not before 50

AD that Britain was under Roman control. Hadrian’s Wall represents the borderline

between the Roman Empire and the Celtic territory (Hadke, 2012), which today

separates England from Scotland, as image (1) below shows:

Image 1: Anonymous, Location of Hadrian’s Wall. Wikipedia® (2016)

In 410 AD, the Roman legions withdrew from Britain because Rome itself was under

huge pressure from invasions and this provoked a chaos. Taking advantage of this

situation, the Picts and Scots raided the island from the north, while the Jutes, the

Saxons and other Germanic tribes attacked the eastern coasts from ca. 450 AD (Hadke,

2012).

Image 2: Jonhson, Ben. Invaders. © Historic UK 2016.

The map in image (2) above represents the journeys of the tribes (Saxons, Jutes, Scots

and Picts) that invaded England (410- 450 AD) and the areas they occupied.

Throughout the fifth and sixth centuries the Britons, Celtic inhabitants of

Southern Britain before and during Roman times, were slowly driven back onto the

mountain areas of Cumbria and Wales. The Germanic-speaking tribes replaced the

Celtic peoples, and the Celtic languages gradually became minority ones (Millward,

1996: 80).

The Anglo-Saxon religion of that time was Germanic paganism. Pagan traditions

lasted several centuries although Pope Gregory sent the first mission, the Augustinian

mission under Saint Augustine, to Christianise the inhabitants of the island in 597. One

of the consequences of such mission was that the Roman alphabet was introduced in

Great Britain and a Christian literature in English began being produced very

extensively (Hadke, 2012). Some time later other Christian missions arrived from

Ireland and England However, this would not be the last external influence on language

and culture before Beowulf was composed. For a 250-year period known as the Viking

Era (Moskowich-Spiegel, 2011), different groups of people from Scandinavia were

especially active across Northern Europe mainly due to changing economic and social

conditions. The first Viking Raid took place in 787 and from that moment onwards

constant invasions affected life in England. The situation was chaotic since raids and

fighting were constantly occurring. The feeling of nationhood did not exist and

England, after all, was not one kingdom when the Scandinavians first arrived. The

original Germanic tribes that had invaded Britain in the 5th century had organised

themselves into seven different kingdoms: Kent, Sussex (South Saxons), Wesses (West

Saxons), East Anglia, Essex (East Saxons), Mercia (including the Middle Angles), and

Northumbria (Blair, 2001: 69). Due to the existence of these seven independent

kingdoms the period of time from the arrival of the Germanic tribes to the 9th -11th

century is known as the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy and this is the situation the

Scandinavians found when they arrived to Northumbria and other territories.

When, after the initial raids, the Scandinavians migrated to settle in England, this

fragmented organisation and lack of national feelings favoured that the Germanic tribes

had no problem in sharing part of the English territory with the newcomers. They settled

down in what was then called the Danelaw, that is, the territory under Danish rule and

legislation. There is evidence of coexistence of both Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians

there, with linguistic and social implications and pagans and Christians lived side by

side as the former were used to having many gods and the Christian one was not more

relevant than other deities (Moskowich, 2011).

This is the socio-historical context in which Beowulf was composed. Providing a

date for Beowulf is something difficult because in early Old English poems were not

originally written down. They were orally transmitted as songs from the speaker to the

audience, and some of them were transcribed later on. There is not clear evidence when

the poem was first composed, but it cannot be later than 1000 AD because the

manuscript already existed by then. According to the dates that many scholars (Müller,

1815, Outzen, 1816 and Grundtvig, 1817) mention, we can say that the poem was

probably created between the period of Christianisation (there are clear references to

Jesus, but two passages in the poem refer to the Creation, the Fall and the death of Abel

and one alludes to the Flood: vv. 90-113; 1261-1266, and 1687-1693) and of the Viking

invasions and Danish settlers together with the gradual unification of England under the

hegemony of the kingdom of Wessex. Nevertheless, the events narrated in the poem

seem to have taken place at some time between the fifth and seventh century AD.

In short, the origins of the poem are still object of discussion. Scholars attempt

to establish Beowulf’s date of composition by applying different methods of study,

including historiographical, linguistic or stylistic ones, but none of them led to

establishing a definitive date and they leave quite vague answers.

3 BeowulfintheAnglo‐SaxonLiteraryTradition

As I have mentioned in section 2, Beowulf is generally held to be the first great narrative

poem in the Old English language, the name given to the Germanic language spoken in

part of the British Isles between the Germanic invasions in the fifth century and the

Norman Conquest of the eleventh. This particular poem is a heroic narrative, more than

three thousand lines long, concerning the deeds of a legendary Geatish hero, Beowulf,

during the period when the Germanic precursors of the English were still migrating to

Britain (Robinson, 1998: 142). The Geats were members of an ancient Germanic people

of Southern Sweden to which Beowulf belonged. The poem is strongly linked to the

Germanic roots of the English nation and displays the qualities of English before the

language and literary tradition became intermingled with French, classical and other

non-Germanic cultures (Robinson, 1998: 142). Beowulf stands out as one of the

foundation works of English poetry, but the fact that the English language has changed

so much in the last thousand years means, however, that the poem is now generally read

in translation and mostly in English courses at schools and universities (Heaney, 1999:

I). As Robinson (1998:142) notes “ indeed, although it is usually seen as the first

masterpiece of English literature, from another perspective it may be said that by virtue

of its large scale, refined style and lofty theme, Beowulf is also the chief glory of early

Germanic poetry at large”.

Like most Old English poems, Beowulf has no title in the unique manuscript in

which it survives (British Library, Cotton Vittelius A. xv) copied around the year 1000,

but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose adventures we are told

(Robinson, 1998). The poem was written in England but the events it describes are set

in Scandinavia or Northern Germany, the vary regions from which the Angles, Saxons,

Jutes, and Frisians migrated to England in the fifth and sixth centuries (Robinson, 1998;

Heaney, 1999). The map in image (3) below shows the tribes inhabiting Northern

Europe at fifth AD (Klaeber, 1950).

Image 3: Klaeber, Fr. The Geography of Beowulf.

In fact, the poem describes how a powerful warrior, nephew and protégé of Hygelac,

travels to Denmark to help Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall is under

the siege of some kind of gigantic monster named Grendel. Beowulf defeats Grendel

and then returns to Geatland, where he puts his great strength at the service of his own

people in their wars against hostile neighbours. We next find him more than 50 years

later. He is now the King of the Geats and has to give his life slaying a dragon that had

threatened to destroy his nation. He falls injured in this fight and he finally dies. In the

following days, the Geats, bury him in the middle of forebodings of disaster because

they will not be able to resist their enemies without Beowulf’s strong supporting hand

(Mitchell & Robinson, 1964-1968: 283).

As all Germanic poems, Beowulf was originally, an oral poem, which means that

it was told by heart and passed along from person to person, from tribe to tribe, and

from generation to generation (Masullo, 2013). This oral poetry is entirely made of

formulas, large and small, while lettered poetry is never formulaic (Waldron, 1957:

792). It is also clear that oral poems did not have a fixed text until they were written

down (Magoun, 1991: 46) which means that the version of Beowulf I will analyse here

is only one of the versions. As for its date of composition, we have just said in section 2

that nobody knows for certain when the poem was first composed. Most scholars in the

nineteenth century agreed that the poem was a product of the eighth century, a period of

cultural flourishing in England (Robison, 1998: 157). In fact, only two scholars have

dated the poem later than that. Schücking (1917) placed the poem in a Danelaw court

around the year 900, while Whitelock (1951: 24) states that “the poem is surely pre-

Viking Age”.

Another aspect of the work that is not clear is its authorship about which we

have no information. Basing on the content of the poem, the conclusion we as well as

Klaeber or Walsh reach is that the author or authors had to know both Christian and

Germanic traditions.

Image 4: Beowulf. Manuscript. Britsh Library Cotton MS Vitellius A.XV, f.132. Copyright © The British Library Board.

Beowulf was copied into the Cotton Manuscript (British Library, London) by two

different scribes. Image (4) above shows the first page of the poem written in the West

Saxon dialect of Old English. The first hand is typical of the late 10th century, whereas

the other is closer of the 11th century. There is no evidence about who these copyists

were, but we know that they were two and the second scribe began his work in line

1939, near the end of the first section of the poem. Both scribes have carefully

proofread their copies and have made many corrections. Kiernan (1997: 171) affirms

that the second scribe has even proofread the first scribe’s work. There are some

indications that show that two distinct texts of the poem were combined for the first

time in the extant manuscript, and that many years after the manuscript was copied, the

second scribe was still working on it (Kiernan, 1997: 171).

Our knowledge about the poem is more or less by chance, because according to

Frantzen (2006: 174):

Beowulf exists only in a single, imperfect copy in a tenth century manuscript now in the

British Library, London, known as a Cotton Vitellius A.xv, and sometimes also as the

Nowell Codex after the sixteenth-century scholar Laurence Nowell, who once own the

manuscript. There is no record of anyone’s having read or understood Beowulf before

1705, when Humphrey Wanley, an Oxford scholar and librarian, catalogued the

manuscript (….). The Beowulf manuscript had been badly damage in a fire in 1731, and

in the course of the eighteenth century words and letters were lost as its burned edges

crumbled

Beowulf, as part of the Germanic poetic tradition, is noted specially for the use of two

literary devices: alliteration and kenning. According to Robinson (1998: 156) the

traditional Germanic verse form is handled with classical perfection in Beowulf. It

consisted of two hemistichs or half lines separated by a pause. Germanic poetry resorts

to initial rhyme or alliteration instead of final rhyme as we can find in Romance

languages. Such alliteration depended on the rhythm marked by the stressed syllables

(normally two in each foot or half line). There were several alliterative patterns, as the

one in which the first hemistich contains two alliterating word-forms as against a single

form in the second (Kurylowicz, 1978: 118).This is what we have in example (1):

(1) Of Scyld Scefing sceathena threatum

monegum maegthum meodosetla ofteah" (lines 4-5).

According to Kendall (1991: 13) in “this type of poetry alliteration is not an accidental

adornment to be applied or not at the whim or will of the poet. Nor is it, a repeated

pattern of sound affecting whatever part of speech happens to occupy a fixed position”.

On the contrary, alliteration marks the stressed syllables of syntactically prominent

words in predictable ways. Notice in example (1), above the repetition of the digraph

<sc> in line four and the repeated <m> in line five. As expected in Germanic poetry in

general and in Old English poetry in particular, each line of Beowulf consists of two

half-lines containing two stressed syllables each and a varying number of unstressed

syllables as we can see in example (2):

/ X / / X

(2) monegum maegthum meodosetla ofteah (line5).

As Roy (1999: 41) says “the half-lines are linked by alliteration between

one or both stressed syllables in the first half-line and the first stressed

syllable of the second half-line”. The most common alliterative pattern is

the one we have just mentioned (represented as aa:aX1). Although, there are

other two possible patterns of alliteration aX:aX or Xa:aX.

The second typically Germanic poetic device mentioned above is what

has been labelled kenning. I will try to provide a definition for it in the

following section.

                                                            1 In the pattern aa: aX, the vowel <a> makes reference to the stressed syllables or lifts and the <X> refers to the

unstressed ones, called drops. The same happens with the other two possible patterns: aX: aX or Xa: aX.  

4 WhatisaKenning?

Since the aim of my study is to analyse the kennings in Beowulf, it is necessary to

provide a definition and description of them. Kenning is a term referring to a stylistic

feature typical of Germanic and, therefore, Old English poetry, in which the author

takes advantage of circumlocutory words, a metaphor or a poetic phrase to refer to a

person, object, place, action or idea, by one of its characteristics. In other words, it is a

way of describing a common thing using clues in order not to say directly what it is.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED, henceforth) defines kenning2 “as one of the

periphrastic expressions used instead of the simple name of a thing, characteristic of

Old Teutonic, and esp. Old Norse, poetry”.

Over the last century, the diction of Beowulf has attracted a good deal of

attention on a variety of aspects. Apart from the interest in individual words and

semantic fields, the study of the language of Beowulf has also focused on synonyms,

compounds and kennings. A considerable number of works has been devoted to

defining and exploring the nature of compounds in the poem and refining the definition

and applicability of the word kenning to a particular class of compounds. Compounding

was an important means of addition to the lexis in OE, particularly in the diction of

poetry (Burnley, 1992: 441). One of the explanations for this is the very nature of OE

poetry. As we have seen above, the poetic verse was alliterative. Therefore the scop or

poet needed a variety of synonyms denoting the same concept in order to have a word

that began with the same sound and thus preserve alliteration and avoid excessive

repetition. In fact, the great majority of poetic words were compounds (Millward, 1996:

                                                            

2 Etymologically, Kenning (n.) is related with the Old English word cenning meaning “procreation; declaration in court” (Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001).

 

115). The Norman Conquest, however, transformed the poetic production rapidly. The

invention of compounds declined markedly from a mainstay of poetic diction to an

occasional device of poetic ornament because French became the greatest influence on

Middle English compounding (Burnley, 1992).

The definition of the term kenning has not been always clear. Some scholars

(Meissner 1921; Heusler 1922; Klaeber 1950; Brodeur 1960; Mitchell and Robinson

1998, and Broz 2011) disagree on what constitutes a kenning and on what distinguishes

it from the wider class of compounds. Friedrich Klaeber (1950: 62), a German

philologist who wrote Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg, labels as kennings any

compounds made of circumlocutory words. This approach was first adopted by Rudolf

Meissner, a German teacher who described kenning as “any two-membered substitution

for a substantive of common speech” (1921: 2). However, some scholars criticise these

definitions because they consider the “two-membered” criterion as too general. Among

them, Heusler (1922: 130), a Swiss medievalist specialising in Germanic and Norse

studies, offers a more precise definition of the term in his 1922 review of Meissner’s

work. He proposes kenning as “a metaphor with an associating link”. In this view,

kennings are only those two-membered expressions which consist of a metaphorical

base and a limiting word which links the base to its referent (Broz, 2011: 165).

Mitchell and Robinson (1998: 26), say that a construction is a kenning when the

base word is wholly metaphorical, that is, when it literally denotes something different

from the referent. The base word is the second element in a compound of the noun

qualified by a genitive noun, as exemplified below:

3. Beadoleoma (line 1523), PE “the light of battle” with

the meaning of “sword”.

4. Lyftfloga (line 2315), PE “flyer through the air” with

the meaning of “dragon”.

These authors explain that beadoleoma is a kenning because a sword is not considered

literally as a light. However, the second example, lyftfloga is not qualified as a kenning

because a dragon was really thought to fly through the air (Mitchell and Robison 1998:

27). Brodeur (1960, 92) in The Art of Beowulf follows the same line and restricts the

concept of kenning to “those periphrastic appellations in the base-word of which a

person or thing is identified with something which it actually is not”.

In my opinion, kennings are nouns and they are formed in one of the

following ways: the most frequent type found consists of two nouns although the

adjective + noun combination is distinguished too. Some examples inside each type are

(Moskowich, 1999: 116):

Noun + noun= noun, for instance hron-rāde “whale road”, mere-hengest

“sea horse”, hring-edstefna “ring prowed ship”, beadulāc “war-play”,

hildeleoma “light of battle” or lyft-floga “flyer through the air”.

Adjective + noun= noun, for instance alwalda “ruler of all”, frēa-

drihtnes “noble lord”, heaðo-grim “battle-grim”, heaðo-steapne “battle-

steep”, heaðutorht “clear as a battle-cry”, heaðo-sīocum “battle-sick”

beaduscearp “sharp in battle” and nearofāg “intensely hostile”.

As we can see, there are many problems to achieve a clear definition of the term

kenning. The different definitions scholars propose allow us to conclude that a typical

definition of a kenning would be any two-part word used instead of a simple word or

name, but, for the purpose of the present analysis I will add that it should be used in a

figurative way, that is, a way in which the compound does not express its literal

meaning. From now onwards, I will focus my attention on the central point of my essay,

the study of kennings in Beowulf and their classification according to their positive and

negative meaning.

5 Analysis:KenningsasImage‐metaphorsinBeowulf

In the OE period, poetry was designed to be performed orally so that the elements that

form it would be of great importance for the attainment of its harmony. I have already

mentioned that Anglo-Saxon poetry made use of the poetic formulas of Germanic

background. These formulas away from evoke apprehension; they gave a great

impression of cultural richness that poets frequently drunk from. Metaphorical word

compounds such as kennings are traditionally included within the Old English poetic

formulas.

There are many kennings throughout the 3182 lines of Beowulf and probably

most of them are used over and over. Kennings usually use colourful figures of speech

that substitute the common name of a thing, one of its attributes or something closely

related to it. They produce evocative images which delight and stick in the mind of the

audience (Douglas, 2005: 135). However, the task of deciphering something particular

is still complex, considering that the audience may often have to work hard to find the

solution, particularly if they are unfamiliar with the conventions of kennings. In this

sense, kennings may seem an exclusive, even secretive way of talking about things

(Cambridge University, 2013).

As for the methodology used to write the following sections I have used the

edition of the poem by Seamus Heaney. Firstly, I read the whole poem to understand it.

Next, I examined several research papers on. Once I had developed my ideas and

understood the term, I examined some kennings in the poem with the purpose of making

a list and classifying them3 into two different groups: those with a positive meaning

(dealt with in section 5.1) and those with a negative one (section 5.2). It was an arduous

                                                            3 See appendices A and B. 

and time-consuming task. Once the list was made, I used an Old English dictionary,

Concise Anglo-Saxon dictionary by James Clark, to find their meanings and assign their

referent. Since there are so many, I will concentrate on kennings with particular

referents, namely, those used to refer to “king” and “God”; kennings for the “body” or

“breast”; kennings denoting the “sea”, the “sun” and the “ship”; and kennings referring

to “battle”, “sword”, “armour” and “warrior” because they are basic terms that could be

considered part of the core vocabulary of epic poetry.

5.1 Positivekennings 

This sub-section will focus on the examination of kennings with a positive

meaning. I use the word positive here in the sense that these words denote the presence

or possession of a positive quality. This is the case of the referents “king”, God”,

“warrior”, “armour”, “sun”, “sea”, “ship” and “body”. The king and God, both

represent figures of power in Germanic cultures. The warriors represent the

responsibility and courage to defend their king and their own country whereas the

armour represents the honour for the tribe. The Sun symbolises tranquillity and

protection against the monsters of the night. The sea is viewed as a hostile element

because it is associated with death and it is the scenario of important battles. But it also

symbolises the travel though the poem, that is, the action of the poem takes place on a

sea which is crossed with no pause (Maggenis, 2006: 125). The ship is described as a

burial place and the body symbolises the dwelling of the soul.

Not all the kennings contained in the poem are equally distributed. The poet

often uses these compounds linked to the aristocratic figure. In fact, I have recorded

twenty occurrences throughout the poem. “Armour” compounds occupy the second

place with nineteen hits. In the third position we find “warrior” kennings with eleven.

The image-metaphors for “sea” keep in the fourth position with nine kennings. The fifth

and sixth places go to “god” and “body and breast” compounds with eight cases each.

The “sun” images occupy the seven place with four compounds and the last position

goes to “ship” kennings with five. I will refer to all of them separately in what follows

in the order they were found in the text.

5.1.1 Kenningsfor“King” 

Anglo-Saxon history opens with kings holding the rule. Neither history nor tradition

records a form of government other than kingship for any of the states established in

England by the Germanic invaders. Monarchy is the Anglo-Saxon political institution

par excellence and gives cohesion to the realms established by the invading tribes

(Chaney, 1970: 7). The antiquity of the monarchic institution is reflected in the highly

developed terminology for the lexical field of kingship, as in the twenty kennings for

“king” used by the Beowulf poet (Chaney, 1970: 84).

The king represents the aristocratic figure in the poem. He is the symbol of a leader

and protector, and he is characterised by a series of qualities and skills that make him

different from the rest of the population. The most fundamental concept in Germanic

kingship is the indissolubility of its religious and political functions. The king is above

all the intermediary between his people and the gods, the charismatic embodiment of the

“luck” of the folk (Chaney 1970: 11-12). He is even sometimes associated with the

divine figure (God). One of his main functions as a divine figure is to ensure the

favourable actions of the gods toward the tribe: the king acts as a mediator between

them, sacrificing for victory, for good crops and for peace (Chaney 1970: 12). He is the

                                                            

4 C.M Bowra, Heroic Poetry (London 1952), p.244.  

leader of the folk and the guarantor of their heel who acts so that the gods may bless

them (Chaney 1970: 12). Bearing this in mind, the terminology for “king” assembles the

kennings into four different levels:

The first level denotes the king simply as a “leader” or “lord”; as a “chief of

retainers” or as a “prince”. He is the one who makes all the decisions in the

mead hall. These terms are land-fruma, “land holder” in line 31; freawrasnum,

“splendid chain” in line 1452 or frēa-drihtnes, “noble Lord” in line 796; beorn-

cynig, “lord of heroes” in line 2148; mandryhten or mondryhten, “lord” in lines

1978, 2647 and 2865, and gum-dryhten and gumena-dryhten, “the Lord of men”

in lines 1642 and 1824 or winia bealdor, “chief of retainers” in line 2567.

Further, one kenning applies to “king” as a protector, namely, lēod-gebyrgea,

“protector of people” in line 269. He must protect his people and give answer to

their needs.

In the third level the king is regarded as “dispenser of treasure”: beaga bryttan,

“dispenser of treasure” in lines 35 and 352 and sinces brytta “dispenser of

treasure” in lines 607, 1171, 1927 and 2072. In the Germanic tradition, the

treasure represents the material wealth, the accumulation of valuable

possessions, mainly vessels, helmets, armour or swords. The king has two forms

to acquire the treasure: on the one hand, he provides his thanes with arms

earning their loyalty in exchange for protection. On the other hand, the king

obtains his treasure through the defeating of enemies in battles (Workman, 2005:

2). Therefore, the amount of wealth the king possesses proves his prosperity in

the reign (Loughman & Finley, 2010: 157). Likewise, the treasure symbolises

what is of great value and the kind of treasure that a king seeks indicates what he

esteems as most important. What is really important to him is gaining the

treasure in battles and being remembered afterlife.

Finally, the king is presented as “a giver of” or as a “lord of rings” under four

terms: bēag-gyfan “ring giver” in line 1102, gold-wine “liberal Lord” in line

1170; hringa fengel “the lord of the rings” in line 2345 and gold-gifan “gold

giver” in line 2653. The motif of gift-giving is also central to the Germanic

culture and the Beowulf poet uses it repeatedly through the usual kenning for

“king”. The functions of the gifts were not only material but also symbolic. Gifts

confirmed the bond between the chief and his warriors. They served as a reward

for service, and gift giving was surely an occasion held before witnesses, usually

in the king’s hall (Olexová, 2007: 16-17). The chiefs took special pleasure in

gifts from neighbouring tribes, which came not only from individuals, but from

the general body as well, and took the form of choice steeds, massive arms,

pendants and necklets (Fyfe, 2013: 98).

Gift-giving was a basic royal function and in Beowulf we can see that this is a custom

that a good king should never break (Olexová, 2007). The relationship between the king

and his companions was one of mutual obligation, and the bonds were cemented

through oaths of loyalty and ring-giving on the part of the king. Ring-giving became not

simply the dispensing of treasure but the outward symbol of the lord’s fulfilment of his

role, and just as a thane’s worth is judged through his ability to fulfil his oath, the king’s

worth becomes defined through his generosity (Drout, 2007: 570). In the following

section I will examine the compounds associated with the Supreme Deity.

5.1.2 Kenningsfor“God” 

According to Feldam (1975: 100) “Beowulf is an epic celebration of the new religion of

Christianity”. In it, one may find many elements that make reference to the figure of

God. God is represented as a Divine Supremacy which acts as an intermediary between

him and mankind. His best-known characteristic is that he is responsible for people’s

welfare, and for this reason He was taken to the cross and gave His life. Another of His

functions is sharing out luck and pardon among human beings. “God” is the most

frequent word in Beowulf, but there are other seven forms that make reference to God

and these are kennings. Three terms, alwalda “ruler of all” in lines 315, 955 and 1314;

wuldurcyninge “the protector of heaven” in line 2795 and frean “king of lord” in lines

27 and 2794, assign the Supreme Deity the idea of “almighty” as the one responsible for

the creation of the world and with power over everything in the sense that He is the one

who makes decisions that concern people’s destiny. Likewise God is responsible when

something is wrong because people consider that it is His will. The poet uses the word

līf-frea”, lord of life” in line 16 to refer to God as the creator. He is involved in the

creation and endowment of the world and he rules life as the king rules his people. The

three remaining words wuldres-hyrde “the protector of heaven” in line 931, rodera-

rædend “heavens-controller” in line 1555 and heofena-helm “heaven’s joy” in line 182

make reference to “God” as protector of the place that human beings occupy in the

afterlife.

The analysis of all this terminology seems to indicate that God in Beowulf is a

powerful protector, a guardian and a sovereign leader. In the following section, I will

examine the compounds associated with the concept of the sun.

 

5.1.3 Kenningsfor“Sun” 

In Germanic mythology the sun is represented by a goddess. She is one of our oldest

deities and the most important celestial body for Humankind. It is the centre of our solar

system, our source of light, and it is of great importance to those places where winters

are dark, long and harsh (Hupfauf, 2003: 17). As Simek points “the sun is viewed as a

life-giving heavenly body to the Bronze Age Scandinavians, and it received an amount

of veneration” (wikipedia). For this reason it dies every day and comes back to life

every morning. Furthermore, it is the image of balance and the source of life. In

Beowulf, the four kennings for “sun” are the ones commented and exemplified below:

The poet describes the “sun” as woruld-candel “world lamp” in line 1965 or

rodores candel “heaven’s candel” in line 1572. Both image-metaphors link the concept

of “sun” to “candel” and “lamp”, that is, to brightness. The other two kennings

heofoneswynne “heaven’s joy” in line 1801 and heofones grim “heaven’s gem” in line

2073 describe the sun as a jewel that shines in the sky. Next, in the following section I

will analyse the image-metaphors related to the concept of the sea.

5.1.4 Kenningsfor“Sea”

The sea is an eternal theme in British literature (Fidalgo 1999: 155) and it stands out

especially for its presence in poetry. There are many poems in which it functions as the

main element, and Beowulf is one of them. The sea represents a source of anxiety, a

border to be watched, and an entity to be walled out. From the sea comes invasion and

on the sea men trust their fortunes. We have also noted the sea’s associations with life

processes (Rosen, 1993: 14). The poem begins with a maritime image, that of the

funeral of Scyld (Fidalgo 1999: 156). On the other hand, it is also the setting for the

most important battles in the poem, the first, between two men (Beowulf and Breca),

and the second between a man and a monster (Beowulf and Grendel’s mother) (Fidalgo,

1999: 157).

The sea has traditionally been an element that describes maritime images. In

Beowulf the poet represents the sea making reference to two animals that live in that

environment such as the whale and the swan, through the terms hron-rāde “whale-road”

in line 10 and swamrād “swan’s-road” in line 200. The meaning of the first compound

is easier to account for because the whale is an animal that lives in the sea, while the

swan is an animal that lives in lakes. So, why is the swan considered a kenning for the

sea? The body of the swan suggests the curved prow of the ancient Scandinavian

vessels, the drakkars. (Broz, 2011: 170). Given this, German peoples felt that the sea

was a human being. Furthermore, other three kennings denote spatial attributes

describing the sea as tossing water such as lagu-strǽt “sea-path” in line 239; Ǽg-weard

“watch on the shore” in line 241, and merestrǽt “ sea-path” in line 514. Ýð-lāf “ leaving

of waves” in line 566 and yď –gewinnes “wave strife” in lines 1434, 1469 and 2412

make reference to what is left by the water, that is, the movement of the waves . Finally,

wind-geard “wind-yard” or “wind-dwelling” in line 1224 reflects the sea as a dwelling-

place for winds. As we can see, the kenning for sea is related to animals (the swan and

the whale), natural elements (waves and wind) and spatial qualities (the road and the

shore). In the following section, I will examine the image-metaphors associated with the

concept of “ship”.

 

5.1.5 Kennings for “Ship”

As well as the sea, the term “ship” is associated with a negative meaning. Its presence is

constant in many civilisations. It is used as a symbol of the journey from life towards

death, the journey that takes the soul of the deceased to the other world. Proof of this in

Beowulf is the ship that takes Scyld´s body to his journey’s end in the very first verses.

However, as well as the sea, the ship has also positive connotations, although they are

not present in the poem. It could refer to the journey towards life, that is, it could be

associated to the idea of giving birth. Bearing this in mind, the poet uses a variety of

images to express the idea of “ship”. One of them describes the curving prow of a ship

as a hrin-gedstefna “ring prowed ship” in lines 32, 1131 and 1897. Besides, the poet

uses the simile of an animal, a horse: to make reference to the maritime vehicle he

wants really to talk about, he uses the compound mere-hengest “sea horse” in line 124.

Thirdly, there are explicit references to a ship made of wood: on their way to kill

Grendel, Beowulf and his men travel on a boat which in the poem is referred to as

sundwudu “sea-wood” in lines 208 and 1906 and sæwudu “ sea-wood” in line 226

(Bintley & Shapland, 2013: 168). Finally, the Beowulf poet associates the ship with the

medium in which it floats through weg-flota “wave-floater” in line 1907. In the

following section, I will examine the compounds relating to the concept of “armour”.

 

5.1.6 Kenningsfor“Armour” 

The background of Beowulf is a warlike society in which metal is really important as a

basic element (Walsh, 2012). The armour was introduced among the Germanic tribes

during the great migrations between 300 and 700 (Gummere, 1892: 253). In Beowulf

there is frequent mention of this strong covering. Armour is a human artefact, an

instance of man’s creative power and his control over nature (Clark, 1965: 409). It is a

symbol of protection against threats such as the menaces that the mother of Grendel

launches to Beowulf. The armour keeps the body free from any attack that may cause

any damage. In short, it is the perfect accessory to a warrior. Therefore, kennings for

“armour” abound in the poem from Scyld’s funeral at the beginning of the poem to

Beowulf’s at its end (Clark, 1695).

The armour provides the main source of protection for Germanic warriors and

this is why it is widely represented by nineteen image-metaphors throughout the poem.

Three of them define the armour as a war-clothing. While clothing may be seen as a

sign of rank, profession or marital status, the armour represents the military status

(Howard, 2008: 3). The terms that reflect this sense are heaðo-wædum “battle-dress” or

“battle weeds” in line 39; heaðo-reaf “battle dress” in line 401, and beadu-scrūda

“battle clothing” in line 453. Likewise, there are images naming the components of the

warrior’s protection that may be said to constitute a different group of terms. Among

them, I have found the following: hildebord “buckler” in line 397, brēost-gewǽdu

“breast-mail” in line 1211, bord-wudu “battle-shields” in line 1243, fyrdhrægl “army

garment” in line 1527, herenet “army net” in line 1548, heaðo-byrne “war-corslet” in

line 1552, bord-hrēoða “board cover” in line 2203, beado- grīm “the war-mask” in line

2557, here-pād “army-coat” in line 2258, breostweorðunge “breast-ornament” in line

2504 and beaduserce “coat of mail” in line 2755. As we can see, all these kennings refer

to any defensive covering worn by Germanic warriors to prevent injury to the body in

battle (Collins English Dictionary). In the following section, I will analyse the

compounds related to the concept of the warrior.

5.1.7 Kenningsfor“Warrior” 

The world of OE literature is a world of warriors and battles, a world where the

individual, if not under the protection of his local lord, is a solitary outsider in a harsh

and difficult society (Carter & McRae, 1997: 15-16). I have already mentioned in

previous sections that the Germanic tribes that inhabited the British Isles from the 5th

century onwards had a warrior culture and no strong centralised government. This led to

the development a society of warriors who owed loyalty only to their lord (Lowrey,

2009: 5). According to Walsh (2012: 96) “loyalty is best expressed by making good use

of war gear and sharing the golden rewards of battle”. A Germanic leader was expected

to be a strong, intelligent and courageous warrior and had to prove himself in battle,

fighting to death for his glory and people (Lowrey, 2009). Because the Germanic

culture was warrior-based some examples of kennings that make reference the concept

of “warrior” appear in Beowulf and are the ones described below:

Five compounds show the warrior as a person who is experienced in armed

conflicts such as heaðo-rincum “battle-warriors” in lines 370 and 2466; hilde-mecgas

in line 799; beado-rinc “battle-man” in line 1109; hildesæd “battle worn” in line 2723,

and hilde-rinces “battle-man” in line 986. Four additional compounds identify the

warrior as a brave person who possesses a wide range of weapons such as armour,

shields or spears that reflect the wealth of a man of the warrior class (Prozesky, 2006:

66): searo-hæbbendra “armor.possessor” in line 237; lind-hæbbende “shield-possessor”

in lines 245 and 1402; rond-hæbbendra “shield-owner” in line 861, and æsc-wiga

“spear-warrior” in line 2042. The remaining word, hilde-wīsan “battle-leader” in line

1064, denotes the conception of warrior as the person who holds a superior position in

battles. In the following section, I will examine the image-metaphors associated with

the concepts of “body and breast”.

5.1.8 Kenningsfor“BodyandBreast” 

The body is the physical and mental structure of human beings. Its anatomy is furnished

with blood, bones and hair. Due to this, it has a positive treatment in Beowulf. The

kennings expressing the concept of human body are described via the image-metaphor

of a “house”: feorgbold “spirit house” in line 73; bān locan “bone-locks” in lines 742

and 818; bān-fatu “bone container” in line 116; bāncofa “bone chamber” in line 1445;

bān-hringas “bone-ring” in line 1567; flǽsc-homan “flesh chamber” in line 1568;

brēost-hord “breast’s treasure” in line 1719, and bān-hūs “bone house” in lines 2508

and 3147. Although the body is not a house, it may be called “dwelling” because it

contains the skeleton and the soul as a house contains its inhabitants (Brodeur,

1959:248-253).

5.2 Negativekennings 

In opposition to what I have presented in the previous subsection (5.1), here I group the

terms that have some negative value in the poem. Among them, I have found the

following: the battle, the sword and the dragon. The battle represents the courage of the

king’s thanes towards adversity. The sword symbolises the sinful through bad emotions

and, finally, the dragon is a symbol of the evil. In the following pages I will explain

them in some detail.

5.2.1 Kennings for “Battle”

We have already mentioned that Beowulf is an epic poem dealing with the adventures of

that hero, a warrior who comes to the Scandinavian kingdom in order to save the king’s

hall from Grendel the monster and his mother. Apart from this, the poet represents three

more battles: a flashback of the physical fight during a swimming match with Breca, a

childhood friend of Beowulf, a flashback of the engagement with Daeghrefn and,

finally, the struggle with the dragon (Clark, 1965: 425).These encounters cause the

dissolution of peace and give way to the establishment of fear, brutality and

misfortunes.

Battles are the scenario where the Germanic warrior shows his intelligence,

strength and courage. Many kennings refer to that idea throughout the poem. The poet

uses the concept of battle to denote competition: hilde-raes “battle-race” in line 300;

hond-gemōta “hand-meeting” in lines 1526 and 2355, and beadulāc ”war-play” in line

1561. Heaðo- lāce “field of battle” in line 584 identifies the battle with spatial qualities.

Three additional compounds associate the battle with arms (shield or sword): lindplega

“shield-play” (lines 1073 and 2039); bite-īrena “the swords bite” (line 2259), and

isernscur “iron-shower” (line 3116) and it is precisely the compounds associated with

the concept of sword what I will analyse in the following section.

5.2.2 Kenningsfor“Sword” 

The sword is a symbol of power and strength in the Germanic Middle Ages, so we

could interpret it as something positive. However, it has a hideous origin in Beowulf

(Drout, 2007: 704). It is linked to the only tool that the hero has in order to defeat

Grendel’s mother. It is a powerful and heavy sword that Beowulf sees in Grendel’s

mother lair, and holding it quickly he decapitates her in a way that the ancient giant-

sword transfers all the strength and fierce monsters possess. This is the reason I say the

roles are exchanged. Thanks to that he defeated the monster. In other words, the sword

merges all the strength of the monster, and for this reason it has a negative meaning.

The Germanic warrior used mainly the spear and the sword as offensive

weapons (Green, 2000: 69). Given this, one word in Beowulf we find a compound

formed by using the word for “sword” as a base and adding the term “battle” to it, as is

the case with hildemēce “sword” in line 2202. Further, a small group of words express

the concept of “sword” through the words “friend”, “light” or “what is left”. These

terms are fela laf “leaving of files” in line 1032; hilde-lēoman “battle ray” or “battle

flame” in line 1143; beadoleoma “battle-light” or “battle-gleam” in line 1523; guð-wine

“war friend” in line 1810; hildeleoma “light of battle” in line 2583, and ǽled- lēoman “

lighted torch” in line 3125. Finally, four additional compounds refer to “sword” as a

valuable object that has belonged to a particular family for several generations. These

words are ealde-lāfe “the heirlooms of men” in line 1488; gomelra- lāfe “the heirlooms

of their late” in line 2563; gomele- lāfe “ancient heirloom” in line 2563, and incge-

lāfe“ancient heirloom” in line 2577. In the following section, I will analyse the

compounds associated with the concept of “dragon”.

5.2.3 Kenningsfor“Dragon” 

Dragons are legendary creatures with great importance in Eastern cultures. In Asia,

people associate them with wisdom, longevity and water. Dragons usually possess some

form of magic or supernatural powers. Oriental dragons tend to be benevolent (Gajek,

2015: 23). In contrast, European people consider dragons as imaginary beasts that make

people suffer and, therefore, they are malevolent. This view is present in Beowulf. The

dragon is portrayed as an uncomfortable figure that becomes the enemy of the whole

nation because of the destruction that it provokes and because of the threat that it raises.

Two dragons are described in the poem. One is the dragon slain by Sigmund, whose

exploit is narrated by the court minstrel in Denmark. This dragon is well known in

Germanic legends outside this poem. The second dragon that kills Beowulf at the end of

the poem seems to be much the same kind of creature which shows that at least some

Anglo-Saxons continued to believe in the existence of dragons. But most references to

dragons are to be found in legendary literature, both pagan and Christian (Robison,

1998: 149). It is noteworthy that among the kennings for “dragon” only one identifies

the monster as an animal that flies lyft-floga “flyer through the air” in line 2315.

Likewise, the other four kennings in the poem associate the malevolent creature with

evil through nearofāg “intensely hostile” in line 2317, āglǽcean “a monster depredator”

in lines 425, 2520 and 2557, and with criminality in āhlǽ can “a monster depredator” in

lines 646 and 989 and ūht-sceada “depredator by night” in line 2271.

The kennings which have been analysed seem to demonstrate that there are this

special type of compounds is preferred for positive than for negative referents since

there are 103 positive kennings (counting all uses) while only 44 kennings are used with

a negative meaning. Then, the difference between the two is clearly visible.

 

6 Conclusion 

Old English poetry is the earliest historical form of the English language at our

disposal and a labyrinth of literary devices. Today, it may seem strange and

meaningless, but at that moment it was a genre with a great evocative strength and an

inconceivable imaginative power. As stated before, the basic foundation of Anglo-

Saxon poetry is alliteration, a stylistic device with a limited number of schemes that

force the poet to use a great number of synonyms called kennings in order to maintain

the formal rigidity. I have tried to show how these two techniques are present in the

Anglo-Saxon masterpiece called Beowulf.

The methodology used, beginning with the literature search, has provided

information both general and specific. It has been based not on sources about the author

because he is unknown, but on sources about the work Beowulf, the poem I used to

develop the analysis.

The main purpose of this essay was directed towards a semantic classification

and analysis of kennings in Beowulf and their contribution to the overall effect of the

poem. Once I have finished the analysis I can say that I reached the targets set. The

poet made an extraordinary use of kennings throughout the poem, challenging the

reader’s cleverness. Throughout this work a large number of words grouped in two

subsections have been used. This allowed me to know the positive and negative

elements that surround the world of Beowulf. If we pay attention to the numbers, the

positive elements have a great presence in his world beyond the negative ones. There

are one hundred three positive kennings, while forty-four are negative, which implies a

great difference (fifty-nine compounds). This significant information shows the values

that move the society around which Beowulf’s poem is structured. The most repetitive

are kennings related to the figures of power (King and God), as well as, figures and

elements of resistance (Warrior, Armour), while kennings attached to mythology and

nature are less recurring.

The quality of the material found in order to develop the study can be considered

satisfactory. It was a pleasure for me to study this rhetorical figure because it helped me

to understand the origins of the Anglo-Saxons, their language and culture which,

through different struggles and invasions, founded the world we currently live in. Since

it is an initial study on kennings, it is not fully closed and it must be regarded as a first

approach to further projects.

 

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Appendices 

AppendixA:PositivekenningsAnglo-Saxon Literal Translation (PE) Meaning ReferencesLand-fruma “land holder” king 1

Freoðoscealc “a minister of peace” king 1 Bēaga bryttan “dispenser of treasure” king 2 Lēod-gebyrgea “protector of the people” king 1 Sinces brytta “distributor of treasure” king 4 Frēa-drihtnes “noble Lord” king 1 Bēah-hordes “treasure hoard” king 1 Bēag- gyfan “ring giver” king 1 Gold-wine “liberal Lord” king 1

Freawrasnum “splendid chain” king 1 Gum-dryhten and gumena-

dryhten “the Lord of men” king 2

Ylda waldend “men-ruler” king 1 Mandryhten or mondryhten “lord” king 3

Beorn-cynig “lord of heroes” king 1 Eorl-gestrēona and eorla

gestrēon “the ancestral treasure” king 2

Hringa fengel “the lord of the rings” king 1 Frēawine “lord and friend” king 3

Winia bealdor “chief of retainers” king 1 Gold-gifan “gold-giver” king 1

Liffrea “lord of life” god 1 Frean “king” or “lord” god 2

Heofena-helm “the protector of heaven” god 1 Alwalda “Ruler of all” god 3

Wuldres-hyrde “the protector of heaven” god 1 Rodera-rædend “heavens-controller” god 1 Wuldurcyninge “King of Glory” god 1 Rodores candel “heaven’s candel” sun 1 Heofoneswynne “heaven’s joy” sun 1 Woruld-candel “world lamp” sun 1 Heofones grim “heaven’s gem” sun 1

Hron-rāde “whale-road” sea 3 Swamrād “swan’s-road” sea 1

Lagu-strǽ t “sea- path” sea 3 Ǽg-weard “watch on the shore” sea 1 Merestrǽt “sea path” sea 1

Ýð-lāf “leaving of waves” sea 1

Wind-geard “wind-yard” or “wind-dwelling”

sea 1

Yď -gewinnes “wave strife” sea 1 Sund-wundu “sea-wood” sea 1

Hring-edstefna “ring prowed ship” ship 1 Mere-hengest “sea horse” ship 1

Yð-lida “wave-sailor” ship 1 Sæwudu “sea-wood” ship 1

Weg-flota “wave-floater” ship 1 Heaðo-wædum “battle-dress” or “battle

weeds” armour 1

Hringiren “ring mail” armour 1 Hildebord “buckler” armour 1 Heaðo-reaf “battle-dress” armour 1

Beadu-scrūda “battle-clothing” armour 1 Beado-rægl “war-sail [rail]” armour 1

Brēost-gewǽdu “breast-mail” armour 1 Bord-wudu “battle-shields” armour 1 Fyrdhrægl “army garment” armour 1

Herenet “army-net” armour 1 Heaðo-byrne “war-corslet” armour 1

Hrin gnet “ring-net” armour 2 Here wǽdum “army weeds” armour 1 Bord-hrēoða “board-cover” armour 1 Beado- grīm “the war-mask” armour 1

Here-pād “army-coat” armour 1 Breostweorðunge “breast-ornament” armour 1

Bord-rand “rim of shield” armour 1 Beaduserce “coat of mail” armour 1

Searo-hæbbendra “armor-possessor” warrior 1 Lind-hæbbende “shield possessor” warrior 2 Heaðo-rincum “battle-warriors” warrior 2 Hilde-mecgas “battle-man” warrior 1

Rond-hæbbendra “shield-owners” warrior 1 Hilde-rinces “battle-man” warrior 1 Hilde-wīsan “battle-leader” warrior 1 Beado-rinc “battle-warrior” warrior 1 Æsc-wiga “spear- warrior” warrior 1 Hildesæd “battle-worn” warrior 1 Feorgbold “spirit house” body and

breast 2

Bān locan “bone-locks” body and breast

1

Bān-fatu “bone container” body and breast

1

Bāncofa “bone chamber” body and breast

1

Bān-hringas “bone-ring” body and breast

1

Flǽsc-homan “flesh chamber” body and breast

1

Brēost-hord “breast’s treasure” body and breast

1

Bān-hūs “bone house” Body and breast

2

AppendixB:NegativekenningsAnglo-Saxon Literal Translation (PE) Meaning References

Hilde-raes “battle-race” battle 1 Beadurūn “secret of a quarrel” battle 1 Heaðo-ræs “battle-rush” battle 1 Heaðo-grim “battle grim” battle 1 Heaðo- lāce “field of battle” battle 1 Lindplega “shield-play” battle 2 Hrēa-wīc “place of corpses” battle 1

Hand-gemōta “hand-meeting” battle 2 Heaðo-steapne “battle-steep” battle 2

Beadulāc “war-play” battle 1 Bite-īrena “the swords bite” battle 1

Heaðo-fyres “battle-fire” battle 2 Heaðutorht “clear as a battle-cry” battle 1

Heaðo-sīocum “battle-sick” battle 1 Heaðo-sceard “dinted in war” battle 1

Isernscur “iron shower” battle 1 Hilde-bilde “battle-bill” sword 1

Fela laf “leaving of files” sword 1 Yrfe-lāfe “battle-bill” sword 2

Hilde-lēoman “battle ray” or “battle flame” sword 1 Ealde-lāfe “the heirlooms of men” sword 1

Beadoleoma “battle-light “or “battle-gleam” sword 1 Guð-wine “war friend” sword 1

Gomelra- lāfe “the heirlooms of their late” sword 1 Hildemēce “sword” sword 1

Gomele- lāfe “ancient heirloom” sword 1 Incge- lāfe “ancient heirloom” sword 1 Hildeleoma “light of battle” sword 1

Guð-bill “battle bill” sword 1 Beaduscearp “sharp in battle” sword 1 Ǽled- lēoman “lighted torch” sword 1 Āglǽcean “fierce enemy” dragon 3 Āhlǽ can “a monster depredator” dragon 2 Ūht-sceada “depredator by night” dragon 1 Lyft-floga “flyer through the air” dragon 1 Nearofāg “intensely hostile” dragon 1